Hi everyone. We hope you’re well. This week we’re reminding how we can support your work on tourism and leisure travel promotion, and providing information on our grant schemes.
 
As always, scroll down for members and partners’ stories, and do send your items for future bulletins to Nik.
 
Don’t forget, our online advice for everyone in community rail through the pandemic is available here.

Supporting tourism and leisure

With lockdown restrictions easing and so many people planning UK holidays, this is of course a critical time for community rail to be gearing up to encourage rail-based sustainable tourism and leisure travel. Our team, including our dedicated tourism officer Alice Mannion, can provide help and advice, and we have a range of resources to help you assess and develop your approach.

You could:

• Carry out a tourism audit – use our guide to identifying your tourism offer to get started, and/or ask Alice for examples from elsewhere;
• Consider working in partnership – see our guides on tourism partnerships and working with national parks, AONBs and other natural attractions;
• Watch back our webinar on tourism promotion and recovery – available here;
• Make the most of Scenic Rail Britain – could you enhance your line/station information on our national promotional site, or provide a blog? Contact Alice;
• Get clued up on social media – read our guidance on using social media, watch back our webinar, or contact Nik for further help;
• Build in the green travel message – see our report on Communicating Community Rail for ideas, and look out for our forthcoming webinars and materials on this topic.

We’re also encouraging everyone in community rail to put 30 June in the diary, when we’ll be launching our ‘Summer Days Out Are Better by Rail’ campaign highlighting the best of Britain’s community railway lines and stations. It will be a great chance to promote hidden gems, local sights, histories and attractions to potential visitors and we will be working with members to develop the content of the campaign over the next few weeks – more info to follow.

Our grant schemes

Thanks to funding from Department for Transport, Transport for Greater Manchester and South Western Railway, each of the grant schemes we manage is now open for 2021-22. This includes:

• Community Rail Development Fund – grants of up to £25,000 available to accredited community rail partnerships in England and Wales;
• Integrated sustainable transport fund – grants of £1,000-8,000 available to CRPs and station groups in England and Wales (closes for applications 30 Apr);
• Small Grants Fund – open to our members in England, with grants of up to £2,500 for community rail partnership or community station members, or £1,000 for station groups;
• Small grants funds for TfGM and SWR areas.

Full details and forms are here, or talk to your main contact in our support and development team for advice. You can also find general advice on finding grant funding here.

Your next bulletin is on 28 April. Keep up-to-date in between on Twitter and Facebook.

Best wishes,
Jools and Richard

News from our partners

• Engaging local authorities on the National Bus Strategy

News from our members

• Poacher Line CRP grows back better
• North Staffs CRP & EMR team up with Alsager Partnership to revamp station
• Greater Anglia podcast series celebrates the counties and people of East Anglia
• Historic Scottish station building is new base for karate club
• Suffolk New College adopts Ipswich Station to offer student outreach
• Lowestoft Tourist Information Centre and Community Rail Hub reopens
• Talking benches will welcome back passengers at Essex stations
• East Grinstead Station gardens glowing after maintenance 
• Hanging baskets uplift Preston Station
• Hednesford community hub on the way in ambitious overhaul
• Community rail development officer vacancy – Hounslow & Richmond CRP